Many Gifts, One Spirit

by Pastor Kathy Barlow-Westmoreland

This week's focus scripture is I Corinthians 12:1-11.

To the Christians in Delhi, on Neeb Hill who are part of the body of Christ known as The Union Church. From Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by God’s call and a servant of the church. Grace and peace to each of you.

I have been following your life together these past eight years and I give thanks for you to our Loving God. Your vision and faithfulness have formed a strong and vibrant congregation. You possess all the God given gifts you need to continue to grow as disciples and as the body of Christ in this place.

I know that some of you have been a part of one of the former congregations for a long time, some since birth. You might say you are Westminster disciples, or St. John’s disciples. Or perhaps you would say you are followers of Rev. Chandler or Rev. Janney, or Rev. Wulf or Dr. Bigelow. I must remind you that first and foremost you are followers of Jesus Christ, and that your history is not for boasting or for thinking yourself better than others, but simply for gratitude to God for all the blessings of your growth in the faith.
Many of you have come to this family of faith through a different path- perhaps another congregation or tradition- you may have been Baptists or Lutherans or of the Roman Church. This too is not something that should be a source of pride and superiority, but gratitude for in your journey God was preparing you to a disciple in this place and at this time.

So, together you are the body of Christ. And you are led, not by your intellect or your emotions, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit has given to each of you gifts which, while different all come from the same God. Each of us has heard the gospel with our own ears, understood it with our own thinking, integrated into our unique lives, and respond to it in diverse and yet equally faithful ways.
These gifts, which are given to all- no one is excluded, no one is left out- are meant to be used to building up the body of Christ, for strengthening one another in our faith. The Spirit includes us all in this gift giving, though our gifts are not the same. While there is great variety among us, they are all useful within the body and out in the world for the common good.

No one gift is to be more highly prized than others- just because some can speak with eloquence or sing like a bird, they are no more valued than the one who can discern truth from falsehood. And any gift, if not used with compassion and love is no longer Spirit led, but human led. For all our gifts are infused with love for one another and for our Savior Jesus Christ.

There are those among you who believe you do not possess spiritual gifts- that somehow the Spirit was not poured out on you in your baptism, or confirmation, or ordination. But you must hear me clearly- everyone gets in on these gifts- everyone benefits from the Holy Spirit. You might be surprised not only what gifts you have been given, but what gifts are waiting within your neighbor, just waiting for that moment when they are revealed.

The bottom line is this, brothers and sisters: the Holy Spirit is at work in you- as you listen patiently to your sister’s pain, or when you sit with your coworker in their grief. When you offer the wisdom of your experience, not as an easy answer, but as words of hope to another. When you offer to pray with another or for another, when you take the time to teach a child or share your faith story with a fellow disciple. When you give your understanding of the gospel to a new follower or encourage them in their participation in the ministry of the body. In each and every one of these and many more I cannot begin to name, the Holy Spirit is at work in you.

This is your chance, my beloved children, to live up to the gifts that have been given to you. These gifts never wear out, they are meant to last a lifetime as you use them to do God’s work in different places and with different people. So there is no saying, “I am too old for this.” For the Spirit continues to work in you as long as you have breath. By the same token, there is no saying, “I am too young, I have no gifts from the Sprit yet. I am not mature enough.” The Spirit works where and how it will, and your gifts are already within you waiting for you to grow them.

This is also your opportunity to lift up the gifts of others- and to find ways for their gifts to be at work in the body- not so much to keep the organization up and running, but to keep the work of Jesus Christ going, to strengthen one another’s faith, to offer hope and reconciliation to the brokenness you see just outside your doors.

Lest you think you do not possess such gifts, just look around you! Look at the lives that have been touched in your short time together. Look at those who have been drawn to join you in this adventurous journey of faith- young and old, some with long histories in following Jesus, some who had wandered away but have now found a spiritual home here. And you who are newer, see how you have enriched this body, your gifts helping others to grow and you share your faith, your knowledge your wisdom, your eagerness to learn- your gifts have inspired many of us to dust off ours or to dig deeper so that the Spirit might be at work in and through us as well.

If you, as the body of Christ that is the Union Church, are to be led by the Spirit of God, not by your own opinions or the ways of the world, then you must be led by the gifts that are within-listen to those who have the gift of wisdom, turn to those whose hearts know how to sit with another in their pain or suffering; learn from those whose knowledge and understanding are clear and true; be open to those whose experience reveal new ways God is at work; allow your Spirit gift to come to the surface so that others may benefit and that the whole body might be strengthened by it.

For you see, all your gifts different as they are, will work together by the power of the Holy Spirit that moves among you. I have seen it happen time and again- in Philippi and Ephesus; even among those Corinthians – were they ever a divided bunch of believers! There were some who thought because of who baptized them or whether they had been with us since the beginning that they were somehow more important to the body. They quarreled about many things and tried to bring the status they held in the world into the body. But through using their gifts, and being led by the Spirit, they were able to grow into a more faithful community of believers. To God be the glory for that.

You are already so faithful in all you have done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ- continue that and all the while be confident of those gifts the Spirit has given you and encourage their growth in one another. You will continue to see a great abundance of fruit grow from your work together. Be led by the Spirit, use your Spirit gifts, work together as one. And believe me, the grace and peace of Christ will flow down Neeb Hill into all the world.

I send you greetings from your fellow disciples around the world- they rejoice in your faithfulness and pray for you with all diligence and love. Peace be with you. Amen.

St. John's Westminster Union Church
1085 Neeb Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio 45233
(513) 347-4613